Peoples Bank KS Has $8.16 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Peoples Bank KS lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,969 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 5.5% of Peoples Bank KS’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Peoples Bank KS’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,162,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,160,850,000 after buying an additional 4,824,436 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Microsoft by 77.6% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after acquiring an additional 2,744,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter valued at $846,072,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This represents a 4.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5 %

MSFT stock opened at $417.79 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $362.90 and a one year high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.47, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $422.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $426.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup lowered their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.